Floral Tribute

I read Simon Armitage’s elegy for the late Queen this morning. I found it incredibly moving, not least because it brought up a host of memories for me.

My late mother’s name was Lilian, but she was mostly called Lily. In her middle years she bore a remarkable resemblance to the Queen, which people often used to mention, and which you can see from the monochrome photo of her at the top of my collage. At her funeral in 2010 I wore a sprig of lily of the valley on my jacket and after the service, held in our church, I went round with a basket of lily of the valley posies and handed one in her memory to each of the women present, as a thank you to them for coming. I kept one posy back, which sat in our family room with a photo of her on either side, and surrounded by some of the condolence cards I received, and there’s a photo of that in the lower half of the collage. I’ve also tucked another photo in extras.


Floral Tribute

Evening will come, however determined the late afternoon,
Limes and oaks in their last green flush, pearled in September mist.
I have conjured a lily to light these hours, a token of thanks,
Zones and auras of soft glare framing the brilliant globes.
A promise made and kept for life – that was your gift –
Because of which, here is a gift in return, glovewort to some,
Each shining bonnet guarded by stern lance-like leaves.
The country loaded its whole self into your slender hands,
Hands that can rest, now, relieved of a century’s weight.

Evening has come. Rain on the black lochs and dark Munros.
Lily of the Valley, a namesake almost, a favourite flower
Interlaced with your famous bouquets, the restrained
Zeal and forceful grace of its lanterns, each inflorescence
A silent bell disguising a singular voice. A blurred new day
Breaks uncrowned on remote peaks and public parks, and
Everything turns on these luminous petals and deep roots,
This lily that thrives between spire and tree, whose brightness
Holds and glows beyond the life and border of its bloom.

Simon Armitage, Poet Laureate

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/simon-armitages-elegant-poem-queen-full-hidden-references/